A Grave Matter
by SaltyJak
Summary: While Timmy did enjoy living with a roommate in his new apartment, there was one proclivity the red-head had that irked the teen to no end...


A/N: Here's one more, though it's set further back in the vampire universe's timeline, shortly after Timmy and Vicky move in together.

* * *

"Ugh..." Timmy Turner stepped through the doorway into his apartment, shutting the door behind him and locking it. The eighteen year-old was tired, battered, and somewhat bruised. As the person who had saved both his own world, and the world of the fairies several times over in his youth, it was usually he that Jorgen called on to resolve any new issues that arose in Fairy World, and keeping his own fairies meant that he had little choice when called upon, lest he risk Cosmo and Wanda being taken away from him. It wouldn't be so bad, were it not for the fact that he still had to solve a lot of problems for his own world too, and that's not even mentioning Yugopatamia.

Still, saving the various worlds(and occasionally dimensions) did keep him well-paid, in addition to the fact that he could ask for money from his parents, should the need ever arise. In fact, he made more than enough money to afford something _far_ more extravagant than the medium-sized apartment he lived in(a point his roommate would never stop reminding him of). He supposed he was lucky though. Most crises that came about could be solved with fairy magic, which meant Jorgen or whoever only called on the pink hat-wearing teen for _real_ emergencies. Situations that called for his particular expertise(or lack thereof).

"I'm back!" Timmy called out to alert his roommate, though she was in all likelihood sleeping, the girl never kept a normal sleep schedule back when she babysat him, so why would she start now? A lack of a response to his declaration confirmed what he assumed: She was sleeping... Or out, though she usually waited until he got back from whatever he was doing to go out.

A pink-haired female fairy wearing a yellow shirt and black pants appeared, followed by the appearance of a similarly sized male fairy sporting green hair, a white, button-up shirt with a black tie, and black pants. Wanda and Cosmo, respectively. "Welcome home, Timmy!" both exclaimed happily and hugged him.

"It's _so_ good to _be_ home..." Timmy returned the hug to the best of his ability and shuffled over to the couch, flopping down onto it as he reached it. The brunet kicked off his shoes and threw his arm over his eyes. He'd greet his roommate in a minute, for now, he'd rest.

"So what did Jorgen need you for this time?" Wanda poofed herself into the form of a cat and hopped up onto the arm of the couch, near to Timmy's head.

"Wasn't Jorgen. Needed to go to Yugopatamia and convince Mark that Vicky isn't interested in him, and that he needs to suck it up and marry... What's her face... The green-skinned princess lady... Mandy?"

"Man_die_." Cosmo corrected him.

"Sure, let's go with that... Of course, this means getting into a fight with him, since he doesn't want to do it, so _I_ had the wonderful job of fighting him in single combat so he'd marry her and prevent a war between their species. I don't know what he expected, fighting Earth's 'mightiest warrior'-" Timmy spoke using air quotes. "But he lost, I won, they're getting married, I'm _not_ going."

"And the bruises?" Wanda asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

"Combat tentacles." Timmy deadpanned and turned to face the back of the couch. "...How long was I gone, anyway?"

"About... six days. Too bad you couldn't take us to help you, but you know Da Rulez, our magic-"

"Can't influence love, true or otherwise..." Timmy sighed. "Remind me to rip that page out of the book next time, see if that works..."

"I doubt it would." Wanda stated plainly.

"Never know until you try." Timmy shrugged as his voice came out muffled from being directed more toward the couch than his godmother.

"Well, at least everything was resolved relatively peacefully, and you weren't hurt too much." at this, the pink cat-fairy swept her wand over her godchild, repairing the rips and tears in his clothing, and making the bruises fade away, the cuts close and heal. "Oh, and you didn't hear this from me-" Wanda lowered her voice to barely above a whisper. "But... a certain vampire said she missed you... several times, actually. Maybe you should go and check up on her?"

"_Subtle." _He knew what his godmother was getting at, because she took great pleasure in teasing both himself and Vicky, mostly about how they liked each other. Of course, neither of the teens was willing to admit this, since it would prove Wanda right. "So maybe I _kind of_ like having her close by, so what?" Timmy turned around to face his godmother. "She... she probably just missed me because she likes the taste of my blood..."

"Almost seems like you might like her a bit... Asking her to move in with you, offering yourself up as a snack..." Wanda remarked slyly.

"Look, right now all I know is that I don't have to worry about her killing people, or getting hurt like... Like what almost happened. She's safe here, and it's my fault that- That she is the way that she is. What kind of person would I be if I didn't let her stay here? If I didn't let her drink my blood?"

Wanda rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Try not to beat yourself up all the time, alright Honey?"

"Easy for you to say..." Timmy glanced away, again feeling ashamed for turning his babysitter into... something that people saw as a monster. "I'll go see her in a few, thanks, you two."

Wanda poofed herself and Cosmo away, though Timmy knew they were always close by, especially with Vicky around. He wasn't sure if it was a lack of trust on their part, or if Vicky's affliction just made them nervous, but he noticed they always kept a close eye on him... Well, closer now than usual...

Timmy swung his legs over so he was in a sitting position on the couch and turned on the TV.

It had been a few weeks since he had decided to move out of his parents' house and get a place of his own, along with Vicky. She hadn't seemed thrilled with the idea at first, and still acted a bit uneasy around him, but the brunet figured that would pass in time. This _was_ the first time they had spent such an extended amount of time around each other, without any underlying animosity, at least.

Before moving in together, Vicky would occasionally stay over his house,(usually in his bed, much to his chagrin) but then she'd disappear for up to a week without even the barest hint of a warning. Then she'd suddenly show up in his room and tackle him to the floor... Which probably would've made him think that she liked him, but the fangs in his neck shortly after the tackle generally made him privy to her actual reasons... Which was a shame, because it would be nice to hear from her that she actually _missed_ him. "Why do I even pay for cable?" Timmy muttered to himself as he shut off the TV, confirming that there was nothing good on. "Or maybe the Fates are conspiring against me so I go see how Vicky's doing..." With a huff, Timmy stood up from the couch and made his way around it and down the hall, passing the bathroom and his own bedroom as he came to the end of the hall, which held the door to the red-head's room. As he raised his fist to knock, he paused, remembering their interaction when he told her he was moving out...

_You guessed it! Flashback!_

"_So, you actually gonna tell me where you go when you disappear for a week, or are you just gonna eat and run?" Timmy rubbed at his neck, trying to make the pain from their weekly reunion dissipate._

_On his bed sitting cross-legged was his babysitter... Well, not so much anymore, but the title still felt like it fit her. In her lap, curled up and looking quite happy being petted was a pink cat, Wanda. "Well, seeing as how whenever I come back, I need to take a little drink, I'm clearly not feeding on anyone, as per our arrangement. As for _what_ I do exactly? It's really not any of your business."_

_The brunet noted that she didn't sound annoyed, she had stated that last sentence quite plainly. "Well... I have a proposition for you." Timmy moved to sit next to Vicky on the bed, making her slide away slightly to give him room, then turned to face him._

"_The answer is no." Vicky smirked._

"_You could at least wait until I-"_

"_I'm not marrying you."_

"_Oh. Yeah, that's funny." Timmy deadpanned. "No, I had something else in mind-"_

"_Not screwing you either." she grinned at him now, clearly enjoying her little head game._

"_Guess you're missing out then." Timmy shrugged. "Seriously though, I'm moving out of my parents' house."_

_At this, Vicky paused in her petting of Wanda. "What? But... Why? Where are you gonna go? What am I gonna do without you-" the red-head caught herself. "-Your blood?"_

"_That's where my proposition comes in..." Timmy stuck his hand in his pocket, producing a small, silvery-colored house key. "You... wanna come with? I mean... Obviously I already live there, essentially. But... I was waiting for you to come back. Didn't want you to come here and not know where I was..." Timmy felt his cheeks heat up slightly. This wasn't exactly how he expected his late teens to go. He had always planned on living in the house he grew up in... Maybe even staying here when his parents... moved on..._

_However, Vicky needed a place where she'd be safe, and he assumed that during her long absences, she probably kept moving, so as not to draw attention and get done what... ever it was she needed to get done._

"_So-" Vicky snatched the key out of Timmy's hand. "You want me; a vampire, a creature of the night that could drink every last drop of blood and leave you as a withered husk in under fifteen seconds, to move in with you... Right?"_

"_Well, when you put it like that..." Timmy muttered and looked away. She was doing it again. The whole 'I'm a scary vampire! Ooh!' He really wished she'd just give it a rest. If she wanted to kill him, she'd have done it by now... "Can you please take this seriously? I want you to come live with me, okay?"_

_She was surprised by that, though she made sure it didn't show. Sure he had saved her life a few times... But did she _deserve_ a normal life, a normal place to live, after the things she had done? Of course _he_ would say she did. In his eyes, she could do no wrong, though she had no idea what caused that change. Growing up together, with her babysitting him, the Twerp _hated_ her, she was sure of that... And yet... She had come to admire him, in a certain, odd way. As long as she fed exclusively on him, he was always kind to her, willingly offering himself to her, still saving her like he did back when he was a kid..._

"_Very well. I accept." Vicky spoke up and closed her fist around the key. She'd have time to reminisce on her life and her Twerp later, for now... There was moving to do..._

"_You... You do? Great!" Timmy grabbed Vicky's hand as he slid off the bed. "C'mon! I'll show you the place!"_

"_Right now?" Vicky asked, though she still allowed herself to be pulled off the bed, and followed after Timmy._

"_Why not?" the brunet looked over his shoulder at her._

"_It's eleven at night!"_

_End of flashback..._

It wasn't all that long ago, but it felt like he and Vicky had been roommates forever(and in a sense, they had). But... It wasn't a 'bad' forever, he liked having her as a roommate, liked her just being around... Maybe even... _"__Maybe I... __Like her?"_ Timmy thought to himself as he knocked on Vicky's bedroom door. He waited several seconds, then simply let himself in. Vampirism had not changed the fact that Vicky was a heavy sleeper, a sharp contrast to how the brunet was when he slept. He had nearly brained her with a baseball bat once when she bit him _just_ hard enough to wake him up, likely thinking it was just a game. She hadn't tried feeding on him when he was asleep since. "I'm back, Vicky-"

As usual, the red-head's room was kept dark, much darker than the rest of the house. A heavy blanket hung in front of the window, and the room was sparsely furnished, since they had yet to get much furniture for either of themselves. A quick look around the room had Timmy's eyes fall upon a certain furnishing that irked him relentlessly. He had asked her if she needed a bed. Even offered to wish her up a bed. Any kind of bed. But no. True to her nature of wanting to do things that either made her roommate uncomfortable, or downright embarrassed, she led him into her room once to show off her bed that she picked out...

It was a coffin.

Timmy felt a tingly shiver go down his spine. Aside from the fact that it was creepy as Hell, it was also... "_So_ cliché..." the brunet facepalmed, then strode over to the coffin and looked it over. It was nice, he could admit that. He supposed it was probably the Mercedes-Benz of coffins, in terms of how nice it was. And it was... surprisingly spacious, a fact that he learned first-hand when he had woken its occupant up once... and got yanked in.

Hoping this wouldn't be a repeat incident, Timmy knocked on the lid of the coffin. "Vicky? I'm back from Yugopatamia... Are-are you even in there?" This was odd, usually she'd be woken up by him knocking on the lid... Against his better judgment, Timmy slipped his fingers under the rim of the lid and lifted, knowing full well how this was probably going to end...

The coffin lid creaked loudly as he lifted it up, then propped it up on the wall the coffin rested against. Peering inside, Timmy found his roommate, thankfully _not_ in the stereotypical vampire sleeping pose, she had instead opted to sleep like a normal person... _"A... very cute normal... person."_ Timmy thought to himself as he watched her sleep. She laid on her side, her head resting on a nearly flat pillow where the deceased's head would normally lay. She wore one of her usual light green tank-tops; the ones she most often slept in. A look towards her lower half revealed that she had opted to sleep in just her underwear, making the brunet blush lightly. Not that it was the first time he had seen them, she usually walked around without much more than her sleeping clothes, wearing a blanket only about half of the time. Her arms were in front of her, the hands brought up near her face, one on top of the other. Even to Timmy, who knew her, both before and after she received her... condition, she looked innocent, not threatening in the least... But that was the point, right? She was so deceptive before becoming a vampire, so looking as cute, innocent and nice as she did now... It was a perfect ruse. They'd never see her coming... If she still fed on anyone but him. "Hey, Sleepyhead." Timmy reached out and shook her shoulder, making her right eye shoot open in surprise.

For a second, Timmy felt another shiver go up his spine. This was the part in horror movies where the plucky(if a little naïve) young teenager meets his end for being just _a little_ too curious. "Um... Hey... I'm back...?" He had no idea why her staring at him with one wide eye made him so uncomfortable, though he had his suspicions it was because her eyes had a slight glow to them when she hadn't fed for several days.

"Hm." the glow faded as Vicky relaxed and opened her left eye to look at Timmy. "Why wake me up?" she glanced out of the corner of her eye over to the window. "It's still daytime."

"Well... Yeah... But I figured you'd be... hungry? Or is it thirsty? Either way, you know I keep the place dark on purpose, you don't _have_ to hide in your... coffin..." Timmy scratched his nose nervously. He didn't like coffins.

"I wasn't hiding." Vicky sat up and stretched, letting out a cute-sounding yawn as she did. "And you didn't hear that." she narrowed her eyes at the brunet.

"No no... Of course not." said brunet waved his hand in the air dismissively.

"Anyway, I was just napping. Not a whole lot else to do around here when you aren't- When there's nothing on TV."

Timmy ignored her little slip of the tongue. "Tell me about it... Figured after six days of being gone there'd be _something_ good on..."

"Are you honestly all _that_ surprised?" the red-head leaned over toward Timmy. "And speaking of six days away...?"

"Well, I _did_ come in here to see you, but you have a point- Agh!" before he could finish, Vicky gripped his shirt collar tightly with her right hand and yanked him toward her and into the coffin, then shut it, plunging the two into darkness.

Being that his sense of sight was pretty much useless at the moment, Timmy took note of what he could with his other senses. He knew he had somehow ended up on his back, and he could hear a slight shuffling of clothing as he felt pressure on top of him, likely Vicky getting ready to bite him. And as odd as it was, the coffin _did_ smell pleasant. The same flowery scent he associated with the red-head was perceptible in the coffin, albeit faintly. "So... not like I'm claustrophobic or anything, but... Would you be interested in upgrading to a bed?"

"This _is_ a bed." Vicky's eyes lit up like pink gemstones in the dark, casting a weak and eerie glow on the two teens. "You saying you don't like my coffin?"

"It's... creepy." Timmy shrugged. "May I demonstrate something?" the brunet waited several seconds before Vicky responded, she had probably been about to bite him.

"I suppose..."

"Thank you. I wish we were in my bed!" there was a distinct poofing sound as Timmy felt Vicky wrap her arms around him and-

"Ahh!" Scream. Likely because she wasn't used to teleporting suddenly.

A second later, and the two were in Timmy's significantly less claustrophobic bed. "You can... let me go now..." he looked down at Vicky, who was now clinging to him for dear life with her head on his chest and her eyes scrunched shut.

Upon hearing his voice and no longer feeling like she was flying through existence, Vicky cracked her eyes open and looked around. "I hate that..."

"You get used to it." Timmy leaned up on his elbows as Vicky sat up, the dim light of his room showing that she was straddling him. "Isn't this much better?"

"_Ugh... I hate when you're right..." _Vicky glared down at Timmy, wondering if he could hear her thoughts. Truthfully, she had only started sleeping in a coffin because... well, she was a slave to appearances. It felt like it made more sense to sleep in a coffin as a vampire than to sleep in a bed... And in the short amount of time she had been doing just that... "I'd forgotten how comfortable a bed was!" the red-head rolled off Timmy with a smile, forgetting her thirst for the moment as she wrapped a blanket around herself.

Shifting to just his right elbow, Timmy looked at Vicky, now bundled up in a blanket and looking quite content. "You _forgot_? How?"

"Well, I _have _been doing it for a few weeks now..."

"There's a 'but' in there..."

"Okay fine. Maybe you're right." Vicky admitted, clearly annoyed that her roommate was right..._ Again_. "So the coffin... might have been overdoing it. What else is a dead girl supposed to sleep in?"

No response.

"Hello?" she looked at Timmy. "I asked you a-" He was frowning at her again, and he looked... Sad? Why? What did she say?

"I wish you wouldn't say that..."

Both teens heard the distinct sound of Cosmo and Wanda's wands fizzling out.

"Say what? That I'm dead? Okay, so if I, the resident vampire, am not dead, what am I?" Vicky sat up now and looked at Timmy seriously.

"I... I dunno! But you're not dead! Dead people don't bleed, and your heart still beats-"

"Only after I've fed." she interrupted. "And why does it matter to _you_ how I refer to _myself_?"

"Because I-" Timmy began with a yell, but stopped himself and looked away, feeling slightly guilty for yelling at her. "I get what you're trying to do, okay? You want to fit with the stereotypes of what you are; be the... 'spooky, mysterious vampire', _you_ want people to see you as you _think_ you are, right?"

Vicky opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. She didn't have a response to that because... He was right. _"Again."_ How could he know her so well? It's not like they really talked to each other, she didn't like telling him about her... affliction.

Yet the Twerp knew her like they were the best of friends! True, she had a certain... admiration for him, but she wasn't about to start seeing this as something it wasn't. He didn't-_ couldn't_ like her, they were too different, and he was... Painfully mortal. If she did fall for him... Would he want to be... like her? _"Ugh! All of this is assuming he even likes me in the first place!" _"So what if I do? If the shoe fits, why not wear it?" Vicky repositioned herself to sit cross-legged and moved the blanket off her head to reveal her hair.

"_I_ don't see you that way."

"I know, put me up on a pedestal. The evil babysitter who can do no wrong-"

"Damnit, would you please take me a little more seriously?!"

Vicky raised an eyebrow at the brunet's outburst and smirked in amusement. "Temper, temper..."

At this, Timmy slid forward, unintentionally pushing Vicky up against the wall as his hands came to rest on her shoulders. "You are _not_ a monster, understand? I don't care what anyone else says, they can blow it right out their ass. You're my friend, and I refuse to see you as some kind of monster, something that goes bump in the night and scares people... And I _so_ wish you'd believe me when I say that..."

"Hm." the red-head leaned forward with a melancholic expression, brushing her forehead against Timmy's, and making his eyes widen as he thought she was leaning for a kiss... Only to drop a bit lower and sink her fangs into his neck.

The brunet hissed in pain, making him grip her shoulders tightly, before relaxing and allowing his roommate to feed. He knew she had done that to get her point across, made the bite hurt more than it usually did so he'd see her as the monster she was so convinced she was.

She pulled away with a grin and wiped her lips with her left hand, leaving a barely noticeable red smear on the left side of her mouth. "Now, what were you saying about me not being a monster?"

"You got red on you." Timmy licked his thumb and brought it over to the red smear, wiping it away before wiping the digit on his jeans. "And that doesn't make you a monster."

Okay, _that_ had shocked her. Not just him wiping the blood away, but also his ignorance of one of her most sure-fire ways to prove what she was. "So... you really feel that way?" she felt her cheeks heat up, her heartbeat quicken slightly. "Why?"

"I understand that you're a vampire, that you have to feed on blood to survive, but that doesn't make you a monster. Life dealt you a crappy hand, but so what? You still have control over your actions, you can live how you want to live, no reason to kill people, or hurt people... And I have no problem letting you... well, use me, I guess. Long as you're safe and happy, I am too." Timmy smiled at her, and Vicky felt her heartbeat quicken just a little bit once more.

"_I can't believe... How stupid I am..."_ Either she was on the verge of having a heart attack, or... _"Or all those stupid cliché _feelings_ in movies and books are real..." _"Fine, wish me up a bed, if it makes you happy." Vicky shook her head, pretending she was annoyed by her roommate's insistence on making her feel... Normal.

"The point is making _you_ feel happy, I won't wish you up a bed unless you really want me to... Do you?"

"Would it make my feeding on you less horrifying?"

"Right, how weird it is that I'm afraid of being in a small enclosed space meant for dead people while my friend bites my neck and sucks my blood." Timmy deadpanned.

"So do it." Vicky shrugged.

"Alright then... What kind of bed do you want? Something with memory foam? Water bed? Feather?"

"Just... something like yours... But bigger."

"Okay... I wish... Vicky's coffin was replaced with-"

"Replaced?! You know how much I paid for that coffin?!"

Ignoring his roommate, Timmy continued. "-A bed just like mine... But queen-sized!" As he finished, there was a muffled poofing sound from the other side of the wall. "There." Timmy remarked triumphantly as he crossed his arms.

"Thanks... Except for deleting my coffin from existence. I expect to be paid back for that. In full." Vicky scooted out of bed, bringing her new blanket with her. "Oh, and I'm keeping this." she fluttered the blanket at Timmy as she opened the door and walked out, closing it behind her.

"She's probably gonna make me pay her back in blood." Timmy stated boredly as he fell back onto his bed.

Meanwhile, Vicky walked down the hallway and returned to her room. Upon seeing her room(and noting the lack of the coffin), the red-headed vampire sighed, then hopped into her new bed and relaxed. She missed sleeping in a bed, missed her family, but most of all... she missed her roommate. Even though she had just seen him, she missed him again already. Her heartbeat calmed down at last, though each beat still came a bit faster than normal. "So this... is what he does to me? What... _is_ it?"

Somewhere deep down, Vicky knew what the feeling was... but how could she tell him? Would he even want her, considering... what she was?


End file.
